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that may contain the filler came to about 1 million pounds.
• Because schools were not given a choice last year, all states may have previously received beef with the product mixed in. The USDA estimates that lean finely textured beef accounted for about 6.5 percent of ground beef orders.
• The agency is still accepting orders for the upcoming school year.
• The USDA does not buy lean finely textured beef directly, but purchases finished products from beef vendors who must meet the agency's specifications for orders;

products can consist of no more than 15 percent of the product.
• The USDA's National School Lunch Program buys about 20 percent of the products served in schools across the country; the rest is purchased by schools or school districts directly through private vendors.
• The percentage of beef that schools get through the USDA tends to be higher, however, because beef is expensive and schools like to take advantage of the favorable prices the government can negotiate.
• Schools aren't the only ones rejecting the product. In the wake of the public outcry, fast food chains and supermarkets have also vowed to stop selling beef with the product.
• Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota company that makes lean finely textured beef, has been reeling from the controversy. This month, the company announced that it will shutter three of its four plants.
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